Studs are used, for example, in the automotive manufacturing industry to enable the attachment of various components via fasteners. The studs may be attached by, e.g., projection welding or using self piercing studs as known in the art. Fasteners are then attached to the studs to which various components may be attached. For example, cables, wires, or bundles can be attached or fluid handling tubes (including, e.g., brake fluid, fuel, air) can be attached to the studs via the fasteners to maintain appropriate routing of these elements.
The studs utilized are often of various sizes and/or configurations (for example, thread types). This causes the manufacturer to have to stock a multitude of fasteners of various sizes. The costs associates with managing the inventories of multiple fasteners and the increased inventories themselves is far greater than it would be if one fastener could be utilized for the various studs. Consequently, there is a need to provide a fastener which can attach to studs of various sizes and/or configurations.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.